Adrian's Tale

Exposition pt 3

Warning: Minor angst
     Despite all that had been going on, I was rather looking forward to this weekend. As a sophomore, I was now allowed to go out to the nearby town every weekend! As long as homework was done, of course, but I had finished that a long time ago.
     I rather liked Stanlow. the town kept a simple vibe that was easy to understand, and made it obvious that it was aimed towards children. Mom had problems with the fact that a town so close to a school would be so open abt selling drugs, but whatever.
     Anyway, this weekend was perfect timing- it should give me time to think over the whole Al thing, along with buying another pack of cigarettes which I was slowly getting addicted to.
     I had briefly contemplated the idea of bringing someone with me, but in the end, decided some time to myself was probably ideal. So, the second the bell rang signally that English Class was over, I pretty much booked to my dorm and threw my backpack on the floor. Half hoping that my dormmate wouldnt try to "clean" my side of the room again, I then proceeded to tun out the castle, only slowing down when I saw a professor.
     My first stop would be the liquor shop, where I could get some cigarettes. it wasn't exactly legal, but the workers were pretty chill with it long as I paid extra. later I could visit the joke shop. I didn't plan to buy anything, but it was always fun to visit.
     Soon I was off of school grounds and making my way downtown. I saw a few faces I recognized but chose to ignore them for the time being. Eventually, I had arrived at the liquor shop and wandered around as I waited for it to empty out. God, it felt like forever since I was last here- even though it's hardly been a business week.
     Today, the place smelled like tulips. Seems this week's theme is flowers. my thoughts were interrupted by someone approaching me and tapping my shoulder to catch my attention. I blinked and glanced at the newcomer.
     There was a brief silence before I realized that hey, I recognized him! His name was Dennis, and we were dormmates during freshmen year. But then one day he disappeared and I was told he was forced to transfer last minute.
     "Hey, Adrian. Hows everyone's favorite 'fluid?"
     "Oh, my God!!! Dennis- you're- you cant just- jeez, Dennis, what're u doing here?? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad, but how?"
     Dennis laughed before responding. "Jeeze, Adrian, calm yourself haha. I'm back for a while and decided to visit this place when I saw ya. Nothin to it."
     "Well shucks, Dennis, if you didn't think id be excited to see you for the first time in forever! How have you been? Whats your new school like?"
     "My new school?"
     "Ye, I was told you had to transfer last minute... is that not true?"
     "Not quite, but this is neither the place nor time to discuss those matters. As for how I'd been, I'm fine I suppose. life's a bit more interestin' than I would prefer, but whatever.
     "Look, I actually came here for a reason. I heard a rumor that ya were up to something here ya shouldn't be. Would I be correct in askin' if that was true?"
     "How did you- I mean, ye... You'd be right."
     "Thought so. Hey Adrian, would ya mind if I were to join ya?"
     "Well, uh, no, but why? And how did you-"
     "Perfect. Y'are a good friend, Adrian. Ya won't regret it!" He then laughed before turning around and leaving, leaving me to wonder what the hell that was about.
     Whatever, I had better things to do than contemplate about Dennis. He'll tell me when he's ready. While we were talking, the store had emptied, so i bought my cigarettes and left in s hurry, pocketing them for later.
     Next stop- the joke shop. They release some new gadget or other almost every week. Last week it was the Compider, which caused pictures of spiders to flash randomly on someone's computer. While the reactions were usually hillarios, it caused a bunch of Arachnophobia attacks, and the device was banned. Now that I think about it, their devices are banned a lot.
     Walking into the store, I could immediately tell what their newest invention was. A bunch of different colored balls were flying around using the propellers on top of them. Some of them had been decorated with stickers, glitter, and drawings. Most still had the tags on them.
     "Ow- Adrian!" Al grabbed my hand to keep me from falling for a few moments as I steadied myself.
     "Ah, sorry, I wasn't watching myself, sorry, haha."
     "Nonono  its fine don't apologize!"
     "Sorry..."
     "... Anyway, what brings you here?"
     "no reason, just wandering."
     "in that case, wanna go upstairs with me?"
     Al's idea flung itself in my head for a while. I would really love to get to know them better, but on the other hand, I don't want them getting the wrong idea about us.... oh screw it. "Heck ya, sounds fun!
     "Cool!" Al led me upstairs, where people were decorating their flying... things. This must be the Decor Station or something. "This is the Decor Station- y'know, for the Blyers." IM A GENIUS!!
     A slight nod was given on my part, to which they replied, "Hey, you wanna... do that?"
     It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that they meant decorating the "Blyers", and I blushed in shame. "Oh, I don't, um, have the money..."
     "Nah, aah, aaaah, ill pay for it, don't worry about it."
     "Aw, pfft, I cant ask you to-"
     "But your not! I'm providing willingly, sides, you don't have a choice!" They grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the Decor station, me giggling in poor protest.
     After several minutes of banter over things like color and sparkles ("No you dumb! You cant put black glitter on a red base!"), the ball ended up with a vaguely neon yet also pastel rainbow color of sorts. "Perfect!" We both said at the same time, followed by laughter.
     After several failed attempts which resulted in "accidentally" hitting Dawn in the head, we managed to get the Blyer to fly! The strangely colored flying ball whizzed around, and after several moments the Blyer was... out of sight.
     "Welp, that was fun while it lasted," Al chuckled, and I agreed. "Hey, uh, why don't we go get something to eat? You know... at Funded Feasts?"
     Funded Feasts was the most popular restaurant in town. It was a buffet that offered different food depending on the time of day. As a bonus, it was also owned by the same people that own Drinking Diner, meaning the place also participated in the Weekly Scents thing.
     After all that happened today, I was definitely starving. "Sure! Sounds fun."
We began walking to the front entrance when Al asked, "Hey, you wanna play Switch Facts?"
     "... You mean the game where I tell a fact about myself, you say something related, and so on?"
     "It's generally more enjoyable with more people, but we could make it work."
     We began walking down the stairs as I started the game. "My favorite color is yellow."
     "Oh what a boring question to start on, Adrian. My favorite color is red. Now, my favorite season is winter."
     "Are you kidding me? Winter Is gross- all cold and sticky. I prefer summer. Now... my favorite plant is the willow tree."
     "Mines the cherry tree. Also, I mostly only listen to music when I'm doing homework."
      "Nae, I don't like music very much. But, uh, my favorite pizza topping is pineapples!"
     Al put a hand over their heart. They looked incredibly hurt by what I said. "Pineapple... does not belong..... in pizza!"
     "Uh-haha wrong! The juice of the pineapple along with the cheesiness of the pizza go perfectly together!"
     "No," Al whispered, sounding offended.
     As we walked out the door, our Blyer flew past us and Al snatched it from the air. "I guess it didn't abandon us after all," Al admired. We shared a short laugh that was quickly ended as a large gust blew by, causing me to stumble a bit. Being small sucks.
     Al grabbed my hand to steady me. "Are you okay?"
     "Ya, fine."
     Embarrassed, I tried to change the subject. "So, you must be glad!" They glanced at me quizzically. "Well, you know- since it close to your favorite season and all."
     "You... remembered?"
     "Well yeah, you just told me like two seconds ago, doofus."
     They gave an embarrassed laugh. "Ya, but, most people don't really listen to other's, usually just waiting for their turn to speak."
     "Well, ya. But I try my best not to become one of those people." Al gave me a genuine smile, and I found myself getting all flustered again. "Urm, look, we're here!"
     We walk into Funded Feasts, and I'm immediately reminded of Lily. probably cuz the place smelt of lilies, her signature scent. Gee, now I'm getting all worried. Lily still hasn't recovered and the healers weren't even letting me see her, or John for that matter. They won't even tell me about their condition since I'm 'not family'.
     "Adrian? Are you okay?" Al asked, obviously noticing my change in demeanor. I gently shook my head no before muttering something about having to go. With that, I walked out into the cold autumn air, leaving a confused and worried Al inside.
A/N: Feel free to correct any mistakes you find, and please vote if you think I'm worthy!